What is Budget Hold’em?
Budget Hold’em looks a lot like a card deck, but it’s so much more: It’s an interactive experience that helps leaders envision a district or school budget that supports key strategic priorities.
About Budget Hold’em: A Strategic Budgeting Game for Teams
In the game, you’ll receive “deals” of cards describing potential investments and savings. Choose to “play” cards that fit your priorities, increase student achievement, and help meet a budget target. Each game is packed with opportunities to grapple with resource tradeoffs and align strategy to research-based investments and savings.
Spark lively conversation about budget tradeoffs, transformational instruction, and student impact—all through an engaging card game.
“A whole new way to think about budgeting.”
— Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials
Budget Hold’em Editions
With over 15,000 users of Budget Hold’em, demand has grown—and so has the game! We now have three editions of Budget Hold’em available to play. Explore all three:
- Budget Hold’em for Districts: The original Budget Hold’em that started it all! You’ll explore a wide variety of options that balance investments and savings with a focus on the real bottom line—student performance.
- Budget Hold’em for Schools: School leaders can choose between Elementary School and High School Hold’em games. With the Elementary School pack, you’ll explore key instructional strategies for accelerating early learning in high-priority areas like math and ELA. In the High School pack, you’ll play with cards designed to help prepare students for their post-graduation steps.
- Teaching Job Hold’em: A Hold’em deck for leaders interested in redesigning the teaching job. Play with cards designed around five key areas that impact the teaching role, including compensation models, teaming structures, and class sizes.
Ways to Play Budget Hold’em
Budget Hold’em encourages participants to step outside of their day-to-day decision-making to consider their choices in a new and more integrated way. In small groups of 4-5 players, you’ll use the card decks to work through challenges as a team and learn about the strategic tradeoffs that can advance your district’s or school’s priorities. Amplify the game’s impact with a hosted workshop facilitated by ERS experts, or DIY your Hold’em game by purchasing the physical card decks or playing online.
Bring Hold’em to your district or school with expert ERS facilitators.
All three card deck editions are available for purchase with fast shipping times.
Itching to get started? Deal your first hand in seconds with our free online games.
Curious to see a Budget Hold’em workshop in action? Watch highlights from our recent workshop with 30+ district leaders.
“We have used Budget Hold’em for years with our students, parents, staff and community members.”
— Education leader in Syracuse, NY
Why Play Budget Hold’em?
Across the country, education leaders are seeing urgent, pervasive, and increasing needs around student engagement, social-emotional learning, equity, and teacher support. But they’re also facing significant challenges that impede their ability to address these needs. Amid this landscape, revitalizing schooling has never been more important. This work requires leaders to take a hard look at the underlying structures that currently underpin their schooling models and strategically innovate for a better future.
We can’t afford to simply cut budgets or layer new money onto old investments. To truly improve student outcomes, education leaders must think differently about how they balance reductions and investments. Hold’em can help.
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